9A / JTB Interchange Update

[reednavy]

Hopefully they'll fix the Belfort RD exit, bring it up to intersate grade, and label JTB as a SPUR interstate!

[copperfiend]

The ramp opening will mean no more traffic lights on 9a.

[blizz01]

Doesn't that effectively "end" 9A?  I thought that it will now become a continuous I295 beltway.

[Jason]

Correct.  9A is aready being relabeled "I295-East Beltway" and the old I295 is the "West Beltway".


From what I've heard, JTB is not built to federal interstate standards and is not in the running to become a spur.

[reednavy]

What all do they need to do to get a SPUR designation? I know reconfiguring the 95 and Belfort RD interchanges will be done, and I think that is it. Maybe the Southsie BLVD may be the only one left. Out side of that, it is all up to grade.

[Jason]

You may be right.  The interchanges could be the weak points.  I'm not sure what all it takes to get the designation.  The I95/JTB interchange is already slated for re-build and is in the design process right now.

[reednavy]

The onyl issues I see are the I-95, Belfort, and Southside interchanges/exits. Other than that, everything is probably up to grade, the exception could be the Intracoastal/Ditch Bridge, man that think is like an amusement ride!

[BridgeTroll]

The Florida Times-Union

July 25, 2008

Gas costs could take road toll




By LARRY HANNAN,
The Times-Union


The high price of gas could end up stalling some major construction projects planned for the next few years.
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Florida is looking at a potential $500 million shortfall in transportation funding in 2009 if a federal highway transportation fund doesn't get a money infusion. The fund provides money to state governments to pay for road construction through a tax on gasoline.

About $1.8 billion of the Florida Department of Transportation's $8.4 billion budget this year came from the Highway Trust Fund.

The fund is supposed to have about $40 billion a year. But there is a shortfall of about $3.3 billion for 2009, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The fund relies on an 18.3-cent tax on each gallon of gas sold in the country and a 24.3-cents-a-gallon diesel fuel tax.

With consumers cutting back on gas purchases, the fund isn't seeing the anticipated revenue.

U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he expects the shortfall to increase to between $5 billion and $6 billion when the White House releases new estimates this month. That would drive up the shortfall in Florida as well.

Mica, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, pushed legislation that would transfer $8 billion from the general fund into the Highway Transportation Fund.

That legislation passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 387-37. It must still be approved by the Senate, and it is unclear when that will happen.

Raiding the general fund is not something Congress wants to do, but there might not be much choice, Mica said.

If the shortfall isn't closed, major road-related construction projects will be delayed or scrapped, he said.

The transfer appears to have bipartisian support. U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., voted in favor of the transfer. Brown is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The fear is that about 20,000 construction jobs in Florida could be lost if the shortfall is not funded, said Brown's legislative director, Nick Martinelli.

Funding the shortfall for 2009 will not solve the underlying problem, though. Gas consumption is not expected to increase as long as fuel prices are high, which means another funding source for the trust fund must be identified for the future.

It is unclear how Northeast Florida would be affected. Florida Department of Transportation District Secretary Charles Baldwin said officials are monitoring the situation and hope Congress finds a way to cover the shortfall.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority does not get funds directly from the federal transportation fund, but it does get some money from the state transportation department that might be threatened.

Steve Arrington, JTA director of resource development, said it's impossible to determine how the authority would be impacted if the shortfall isn't funded.

Northeast Florida already dodged a funding bullet this year when the Legislature made $500 million in cuts to the state transportation budget. The only local project affected was the first phase of construction of Florida 9B from U.S. 1 to Florida 9A. The start of that $170 million project was delayed from 2012 to 2013.

larry.hannan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4470

Projects at stake

Among the Northeast Florida projects that could be affected by a $3.3 billion shortfall in the federal Highway Trust Fund:

STARTING ROAD DATE, COST:

Heckscher Drive widening from Drummond Point to August Drive, 2009, $28 million

Interstate 10 widening to six lanes from Interstate 295 to Branan Field-Chaffee Road, 2009, $78 million

Beach Boulevard widening from Hodges Boulevard to San Pablo Road, 2011, $29 million

Interstate 95 bridge replacement at Southampton Road and Hendricks Avenue, 2012, $87 million

Interstate 10 Marietta interchange relocation, 2012, $61 million

Florida 9B from U.S. 1 to Florida 9A, 2013, $170 million

Source: Florida Department of Transportation




This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/072508/met_309337971.shtml.

[Doctor_K]

Florida 9B from U.S. 1 to Florida 9A, 2013, $170 million

Well hell, let's save $170 million for something more important right there - and NOT build freakin 9B for no apparent reason.

[copperfiend]

Florida 9B from U.S. 1 to Florida 9A, 2013, $170 million

Well hell, let's save $170 million for something more important right there - and NOT build freakin 9B for no apparent reason.

It's not for no reason. We need more subdivisions, Targets and Chili's.

[Doctor_K]

It's not for no reason. We need more subdivisions, Targets and Chili's.

Right!  And to make sacrifices at the Altar of Our Lady of the Almighty Suburban Sprawl!  Led by the most reverend High Priest Peyton!

Thank you for setting me straight, copperfiend! 

[Jason]

Mayor Peyton isn't the only one bent over by suburban sprawl, St. Johns county is right there next to him letting the tract home developers give it to them right.

St. Johns has the money lined up to start purchasing right of way and is in the design phase of their portion as we speak.

[copperfiend]

Look at the proposed outer beltway. It goes through undeveloped land in lower Clay County.

[reednavy]

I know I dug this outta the woodwork, but it needs it.

Leave it up to FDOT to f*ck up something more than it already was. The ramp to JTB east from 9A/295 north is poorly planned, if that. A lot of JTB eastbound traffic exits at Kernan, and the onramp smacks right into the EXIT ONLY lane.

Then to also make it a two lane onramp to JTB, only to ahve it merged into one then hit the Kernan exit only lane is jsut retarded, absolutely retarded. Has FDOT ever heard of left onramps, because most people are trying to floor it though there anyways and would make a helluva lot more sense.

Alright, enough of my rant. Anyone else think this was just a stupid decision?

[Doctor_K]

I think most of those Mixing Bowl's on-ramps are too short or poorly planned.

9A South to JTB West onramp simultaneously off-ramp for Gate Parkway; at least there's a little more breathing space there.

JTB Eastbound to 9A Northbound onramp ends abruptly to make way for the ramp from JTB Westbound to 9A northbound, which simultaneously is the UNF/Town Center off-ramp.  Less than half a mile.  That's the one I deal with every day.  Good times trying to merge left onto 9A northbound just to turn around and get back over to exit at UNF/SJTC. 

Whee!